During a school semester break, I paid a visit to one of the Malay villages, we call 'kampung' . Not to far from town the pace of life there is very much slower and peaceful (very good for the soul). The sun was right over my head and most people stayed indoor except some playful boys enjoying their school break. This village is call 'Kampung Seronok' which means 'Happy Village'. Situated on the south eastern part of Penang Island.

The folks here grow a lot of fruit trees, herbs, vegetables as well as fowls and fishes. The sun just came out today, the sky has been overcast and wet for the past five days, so naturally I saw a lot of laundries drying in the sun.

In this muslim community, life basically centered around the village mosque. Everybody seems to know everybody. Any celebration of weddings or any other events would involve all the folks. One of the colourful events is when the young boys reached certain age group, they will be prepared for ritual circumcision. Then there will be music, dancing and food.

(Above) Betel nuts. Folks use to chewed them with a mixture of lime paste, betel leaf, and spices. We can hardly see anyone chew them nowadays. They only use them for some culture and custom practices like weddings and circumcision ceremonies.

(Right ) Grating coconut meat in a grocery store. Folks will then squeeze out the milk from the grated coconut meat. Coconut milk is very much of their cooking ingredients used from curry to sweet puddings. The grocery man will be the best man to talk to if you are looking for someone there or maybe the latest gossip.

Lots of spices and pungent smelling herbs are used in their cooking. Salted fish is also one of their delicacies. Notice the one above, that's the flower bud of a banana tree. Lots of garden vegetables are eaten raw and it's very healthy. Compared to the Indians, Malays use less curry staffs, but the dishes are more on the sour and chilly hot taste.